Existing consist systems for locomotives facilitate controls of multiple locomotives to be linked together and respond in accord to an input generated within a lead locomotive. More particularly, consist systems commonly operate in a discrete number of power modes or power settings, usually eight, referred to as “notches”. A notch at which a lead locomotive is set generally determines a speed of operation of the consist. To this end, a notch selected in the lead locomotive corresponds to a selection of the same notch in the remaining locomotives. This often results in inaccurate power generation as remaining locomotives possess different engine characteristics, in turn causing a non-linear increment of power.
Canadian Patent no. 2,455,282 ('282 reference) relates to a method and apparatus for reducing smoke emissions of a railroad locomotive during throttle notch changes. The method of the '282 reference discusses a delay in an application of a load to an engine of the locomotive and a modification of the engine's timing.